Marjolein Delhaas x The Boyscouts

As a graphic designer Marjolein Delhaas is often a force in the background. However, with her planners she put her personal signature on display. Since 2008 she annually designs planners and notepads that are characterized by spaciousness and balanced typography. Every day feels like a clean slate. With one of hers in your bag you’re ready for two thousand and seventeen and each year after. ‘I strive to create little archives of life.’

Is your life organized?‘Because of my structured work, people tend to think that my whole life is neatly organized. The opposite is true since I have a family and a business. Nevertheless, I aim for structure. It’s an absolute high when my designs are as structured as they can be but I can’t deny that I sometimes overdo it and everything collapses into chaos. But then again, it seems that everything grows in chaos and you don’t always have the time to organize growth. Over time things simply stack up and I think there’s beauty in that.’

The origin of the planner‘At the academy they used to have notepads. I always took those and carried them with me. My bag was a mess and these notebooks were perfect for several reasons. First of all, A6 size cards and folded A4 papers fit perfectly in between the pages without the edges folding. Secondly, the small size made it easy to carry with me—in a bag or even my coat. It’s these small things that make me happy and so I based the size of my planners on that specific notebook. My planner comes in two versions: one deluxe edition with an imitation leather hardcover and a basic paperback version.

In my designs I try to keep that ‘unfinished’ feel. I try to balance out the contrast between the design and the material. The fine-tuning never stops. I don’t want to make big changes because I believe I have found the right basis and people appreciate that. It’s free from ‘noise’ like maps and size-charts. The year itself is what matters.

I strive to create little archives of life. An organizer is not just about planning, it’s also remembering what you’ve done. A couple of scribbles is enough to do that.'

The Boyscouts x Marjolein Delhaas‘I felt an immediate connection to the Building Character collection. The essence of the visual style has a similarity to my own. The simplicity and graphic feel fits me and I could straight away envision a typeface. It was a challenge, as I never made a typeface before. I studied the lines and junctions used for the collection and formed a basic grid to build the different characters with. The result may not be a perfect finished typeface, but it definitely is an interesting experiment, which I enjoyed making and will continue to refine. In the meantime I'm happy to announce that this experiment will turn into wrapping paper.'

Are you ready to plan, look forward and back? You find the basic and the deluxe planners here.